Wragge & Co is set to launch in Paris after hiring a 10-partner team from its French referral firm Lefevre Pelletier & Associes (LPA).

The new practice is expected to open later this year, subject to approval by the Paris Bar, and will be headed up by joint managing partners Pierre Appremont – a tax specialist – and Simon Lowe, who previously managed the referral relationship from the LPA side.

Appremont is expected to focus on operational issues while Lowe will take an external-facing role.

The practice, which will become UK top 25 firm's sixth office, will cover corporate, real estate, funds, tax, finance, litigation, corporate recovery and intellectual property.

Wragges said that the Paris practice will give it a platform into the Middle East and North Africa, where it conducts a lot of projects work.

Other partners moving from LPA include David Blondel, Pierre-Emmanuel Chevalier, Arnaud Guerin, Laurent Jourdan, Eglantine Lioret, Jerome Patenotte, Henry Ranchon and Phillippe Rousseau. Their arrival will boost Wragges' all-equity partnership to a total of 121.

Wragges senior partner Quentin Poole (pictured) commented: "This is an exciting development; part of an international strategy focused on providing clients with a high-quality service from Wragges offices or trusted best friend firms."

He added: "More and more of our business is international and we needed a strong presence across the UK, Germany and France. With our own offices in the UK and France and a 'super best friend' in Germany, we will have that."

Poole declined to comment on whether Wragges expected to maintain any form of referral relationship with LPA in future.

LPA private equity head Jean-Luc Bedos told Legal Week that the firm retains best friend relationships with other UK firms including Berwin Leighton Paisner. He added that LPA would now look to recruit, especially in its tax department, but stated that the firm's other practice groups were relatively unaffected by the defections.

The move marks a further transition onto the international stage for the Wragges, shifting from its previous strategy of focusing on its UK practice. The Birmingham-based firm also has a EU law-focused branch in Brussels and small offices in China and Germany that specialise in intellectual property.